Popdose » Bottom Feeders

Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’90s, Vol. 5

Dave Steed — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:30:38 +0000

Bottom Feeders is back! And this time, we’re going ’90s on your ass. If you missed the two ’80s editions, here’s the deal. Bottom Feeders takes a look back at every song that hit the Billboard Hot 100 charts, but only if they didn’t crack the top 40. It’s not meant to be a comprehensive review of each tune or each artist, but rather my view of the music I grew up loving. It’s meant to bring back all the great and really crappy songs that have faded into oblivion over time for one reason or another And, the series is designed to get discussions going about the music. I don’t have expert knowledge of every song posted here but I want to hear from you with your memories of the tunes, comments about a artist or general thoughts.

Section 1: The Ass End

Merril Bainbridge
“Under the Water” 1997, #91 (6 weeks) (download)

For the first time in the series, I’m invoking the “general rule.” I established it back in the ‘80s edition, but revamped for the ‘90s, the rule is now this: If it belongs in Lilith Fair, it will not get near Steed’s ears.

Anita Baker
“Talk To Me” 1990 #44 (13 weeks) (download)
“Soul Inspiration” 1990, #72 (7 weeks) (download)
“I Apologize” 1994, #74 (12 weeks) (download)

I don’t really think of the soulful sounds of Anita Baker as coming from the ‘90s. She’s an ‘80s artist to me. It kind of makes sense as she only had one top 40 hit in decade after hitting it big with “Giving You the Best That I Got” and “Sweet Love” among other quiet storm staples. But by the early ‘90s her sound didn’t really progress and she seemed to get somewhat caught in the transition to more modern sounding stuff. Strangely enough though, “I Apologize” won her a Grammy in 1995 for best R&B female vocal even though it didn’t do too well on the charts. But we all know how the Grammys can be.

Arthur Baker
“I O U” 1992, #93 (4 weeks) (download)

Baker wrote this song back in the early ‘80s when the UK funk group Freeez took it to #1 on the dance charts. That group was led by John Rocca who had a very feminine voice to begin with so if Baker wanted to update it for the ‘90s, picking a female to sing was a good call. However, while the original is actually decent, this version certainly is not better and the female vocals by Nikeeta just aren’t very good.

Oh, and quite obviously, this is an Arthur Baker sighting, ya’ll.

Baltimora
“Tarzan Boy” 1993, #51 (12 weeks) (download)

What the fuck you might say here? Yeah, “Tarzan Boy” hit #13 back in ’85/’86 but in 1993 it was used in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III and was rereleased as a single – so two years before Jimmy McShane died of AIDS, he had a hit on his hands again thanks to talking turtles. Surprising too is that the original was the version that charted even though the B-side to the single was a new remix for 1993.

Bang
“Holding My Heart” 1990, #93 (2 weeks) (download)

The two members of Bang were born in Greece but formed in London at the tail end of the ‘80s. After having minor success in the UK, they released the album Clockwise in 1990 which contained their only US Hit, “Holding My Heart.” They are very reminiscent of Go West to me.

B Angie B
“I Don’t Want To Lose Your Love” 1991, #54 (8 weeks) (download)

B Angie B was Angela Boyd who got her career started by her future husband, producer James Earley who introduced her to MC Hammer. She was a backup singer on both Let’s Get It Started and Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em and then also did some performing with his protégés, the Oaktown 3.5.7’s. Hammer signed her to his own Bust It records where she put out her debut album consisting of mostly dance flavored R&B and this cover of the Emotions’ “I Don’t Want To Lose Your Love.” Sales weren’t good so she was dropped and ended up releasing only one more album, though I do read that she’s making music again now.

Barenaked Ladies
“The Old Apartment” 1997, #88 (6 weeks) (download)
“Brian Wilson” 1997, #68 (20 weeks) (download)
“It’s All Been Done” 1998, #44 (12 weeks) (download)

’97/’98 were my prime college years working at WTSR in Trenton, NJ. I’m pretty sure that’s why I’m shocked that these songs didn’t get higher or tunes like “If I Had $1,000,000” didn’t chart at all. At least before “One Week” hit the charts, these guys were pretty much a college radio band and we played the hell out of their first couple records. I still like “One Week” though I know it gets the “cheesy” label more often than not at this point. Even more surprising though is that “It’s All Been Done” couldn’t crack the top 40 as the follow up to a #1 smash. It’s not exactly a bad song.

Gary Barlow
“So Help Me Girl” 1997, #44 (20 weeks) (download)

Like the Ridgely to your Michael, Gary Barlow was one of the four “other guys” in Take That next to Robbie Williams. Now granted, at least to us in the US, Williams wasn’t the unmistakable star in the group like George Michael was to Wham! but he became the guy everyone knew from it eventually. Barlow would appear to be the second most famous member of the five-piece as he wrote many of the Take That tunes and seems to enjoy passing his songs on to Donny Osmond of all people. “So Help Me Girl” is a decent cut off his debut solo record, the first of two albums he would do on his own. Oh and like Robbie Williams he’s sickeningly handsome. Fucker.

Beastie Boys
“So What’Cha Want” 1992, #93 (5 weeks) (download)

No respect for the kings of white hip-hop here. “So What’Cha Want” is one of my favorite singles from them off of the uneven Check Your Head album. But what’s really surprising is that “Sabotage” only bubbled under. But it’s a great example of MTV vs. radio. The video for “Sabotage” is iconic but I guess it lost some magic without the visual effects.

The Beatles
“Baby It’s You” 1995, #67 (4 weeks) (download)

The Beatles charting three times in the ‘90s with songs that had no business mixing in with the likes of the rappers of the day is a testament to the power of the group. “Baby It’s You” was recorded in ’63 for their appearance on Pop Goes the Beatles, released as Live at the BBC as a 69 cut double disc set.

The Beatnuts
“Off the Books” 1997, #86 (3 weeks) (download)
“Watch Out Now” 1999, #84 (12 weeks) (download)

Sort of like the Wu-Tang Clan has its members and then “affiliates” that get the benefits of saying they belong to that crew but they get the rejected beats and shitty rhymes, The Beatnuts are an “affiliate” of the Native Tongue collective led by A Tribe Called Quest, The Jungle Brothers and De La Soul that usually promote afrocentric topics. The difference between the Wu affiliates and the Native Tongue ones is that the latter actually have some great artists in them like The Beatnuts and Prince Paul. These guys were the only Latin members of the crew so the lyrical content was a little different but the sound is consistent with the overall vibe of all the bands. Intelligent music, subtle and jazzy while still having a strong hip-hop feel.

“Off the Books” featuring both Big Pun & Cuban Link is a song I don’t remember hearing much growing up, but “Watch Out Now” is a masterpiece of the genre without a doubt, well written and catchy as hell. Bump this one.

Beats International
“Dub Be Good To Me” 1990, #76 (5 weeks) (download)
“Won’t Talk About It” 1990, #76 (12 weeks) (download)

Beats International was the band formed by Norman Cook (afterwards to be known as Fatboy Slim) after he left the Housemartins in the late ‘80s. Their debut album was a dancey affair more along the lines of “Won’t Talk About It” with a little dub reggae mixed in. Their follow up record in 1991 featured much more of the dub that made “Dub To Be Good To Me” their signature song. That of course is a remake of “Just Be Good To Me” by the S.O.S. Band and while Cook played bass on the record, with this tune it’s a sample of the Clash’s “Guns of Brixton.”

Beck
“Where It’s At” 1996, #61 (19 weeks) (download)
“Devils Haircut” 1996, #94 (4 weeks) (download)
“The New Pollution” 1997, #78 (7 weeks) (download)
“Jack-Ass” 1997, #73 (10 weeks) (download)

Beck’s career path around this point really got interesting. I mean, “Loser” is an iconic angst-ridden song that everyone thinks they can sing word for word but really don’t have a fucking clue what he’s saying. Who knows if Beck really knows what he’s getting at half the time with the random string of words he spews. But it was Odelay in 1996 that was the truly fantastic album from start to finish and while you can’t deny it was a little quirky, it was totally accessible too. Somewhere along the line he lost me though. Mutations wasn’t nearly as good as Odelay and then Midnite Vutures kind of put him into the land of the wacked out space monkeys. I know critics love him and they creamed themselves over the brutally mellow Sea Change in 2002 but I’ve since lost the ability to understand a damn thing the guy is doing. And it’s even kind of ruined Odelay for me as I never go back to it.

Bee Gees
“Paying the Price of Love” 1993, #74 (9 weeks) (download)
“Still Waters (Run Deep)” 1997, #57 (9 weeks) (download)

Another artist that I’d normally say how in the fuck did they still have hits this late into their career but considering that I love them, I’m not surprised. I mean, “Paying the Price of Love” is pretty cheesy with its pseudo hip-hop beat and Barry gets his voice to registers that I swear only dogs should hear but it still has those melt-away harmony vocals. And “Still Waters” is actually a damn good song which probably should have been a bigger hit.

Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’90s, Vol 4.

Dave Steed — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:30:24 +0000

Section 1: The Ass End

Arrested Development
“Revolution” 1992, #90 (6 weeks) (download)
“Ease My Mind” 1994, #45 (12 weeks) (download)

Though certainly not the best song Arrested Development ever made, “Revolution” pretty much sums up their entire message in this one track coupled with its appearance in the Denzel Washington epic Malcolm X.

“Ease My Mind” was the only Hot 100 hit from their second record, Zingalamaduni which contained nothing as catchy as “Tennessee” or “Mr. Wendal.” They broke up after that and Speech released some sketchy solo records before the group reunited without Headliner in 2000 and have been releasing records that no one has heard since that point.

Oh, and I can’t forget, “A game of Horseshoes!”

Artie the 1 Man Party
“A Mover La Colita” 1995, #65 (19 weeks) (download)
“Esa Nena Linda” 1996, #74 (14 weeks) (download)

I think the singles officially were presented as DJ Juanito presents Artie the 1 Man Party although I’m not really sure why this Juanito cat needed to introduce another DJ, but anyway. The ‘90s were really the point when Latin dance and hip hop really took off and got airplay but I’d assume that certain areas of the country wouldn’t get anywhere near this while others played the shit out of it, hence the 33 weeks of total chart time. I’ve heard the name before but I’m almost positive Philadelphia was one of those areas that Artie the 1 Man Party never cracked.

Art N’ Soul
“Ever Since You Went Away” 1996, #72 (14 weeks) (download)

I have no idea what an Art N’ Soul album sounded like but I’m a little shocked that “Ever Since You Went Away” was their lone hit and it only reached #72. This is a fantastic little number that reminds me a lot of the groove Tony! Toni! Tone! gave off. Information on the trio is a bit difficult to come by but this had to be some kind of label failure rather than a measure of the quality of the group.

Asia
“Days Like These” 1990, #64 (7 weeks) (download)

After a five year absence from the chart, “Days Like These” stormed the charts, made little to no impact and disappeared. I have no problems with the song itself, but plenty with the bullshit Then & Now record from which it appears, which contained four new songs and six hits and yet even with so few hits, the 80’s bottom feeder, “Go” is missing from it. I get the concept – out of the public eye for years, going into the studio to record new stuff, let’s give everyone a refresher but shit, it didn’t really do anything for their success and they didn’t have another charting record in the US until 2008’s Phoenix. I’d rather have just seen an EP of the new stuff.

Rick Astley
“Move Right Out” 1991, #81 (5 weeks) (download)

By 1991 no one was surprised Rick Astley was white, right? But the real surprising part was that he got a couple decent hits from his third record, Free. It was the first one that wasn’t produced by SAW and wasn’t really anything to write home about but “Move Right Out” is his best single. Both this and his #7 hit, “Cry For Help” have a more mature sound which can certainly be credited in part to his songwriting partner on both tunes, Rob Fisher from Naked Eyes and Climie Fisher.

Athenaeum
“What I Didn’t Know” 1998, #58 (14 weeks) (download)

How many bands were formed at their eighth grade dance? Okay, with the number of teenagers recording in the ‘90s, maybe quite a few. That’s what happened to Athenaeum as their drummer and singer got together at the dance and decided to form a band. One of my good buddies swore by this band back in the day. I thought their second album (Radiance) was the best of their four, the most consistent slab of pop-rock they released. “What I Didn’t Know” was their only charting song though.

I tossed a few e-mails back and forth with former Athenaeum drummer Nic Brown and here’s what transpired:

Did you have a feeling when you recorded “What I Didn’t Know” that it would be a hit song?

There wasn’t a distinct feeling that it was going to be a hit. Keep in mind that, especially at that time, almost everything Athenaeum wrote was very accessible. It wasn’t like we were the Pixies who suddenly tracked a super-clean “Here Comes your Man” and then looked at each other and said, “Uh oh.” “What I Didn’t Know” was just another Athenaeum song. The album it appeared on – Radiance – has a very high percentage of radio-ready songs. In fact, I always felt like there were other songs on the album that seemed even more likely to be a hit. “Unnoticed” gave me that feeling. I was actually a bit surprised when “What I Didn’t Know” was selected as the first single. It worked out, obviously. But the success of that song never seemed to me as much an actual function of the song itself as it was a function of promotion behind a valid representation of the band. Several other Athenaeum songs could have been hits just as easily, I think. But I have less perspective on this than anyone, really.

And what was the reaction like when you heard it on the radio for the first time?

It was in the spring of 1998, and we were driving our van to a show, pulling a trailer, and listening to the radio. I think this was outside Charlotte, NC. Mark, our singer was driving. We were on the sharpest curve of an interstate entry ramp when the drum intro of “What I Didn’t Know” tapped out of the speakers. Mark shouted, and then I think we all just got quiet and smiled. But I guess Mark forgot to keep turning the steering wheel, because in that thick blissed out excitement, the van careened off the ramp, drove over the little triangle of turf between the ramp and the interstate, and entered the highway perpendicular to traffic. There weren’t any cars coming, and Mark just righted the van and we carried on. But how did we not die? In those years, we traded in that sort of simple bliss combined with dangerous naiveté. I guess that’s youth.

Radiance was a pretty fantastic pop-rock record with “Un-Noticed” getting some airplay on rock stations and “On My Mind” which I still think should have been a #1 hit. Did the sales and popularity of the album meet your expectations at the time?

I had such a wide variety of expectations. They ranged from humble to not, but the members of Athenaeum were smart and for the most part realistic. We had seen a number of regional bands get signed to majors and sell a very small number of records and garner almost no radio play. At the same time, our label mates and regional neighbors Hootie and the Blowfish were charting hit after hit and selling millions of records. So both outcomes seemed distinctly possible. What we did not understand at the time was the true ephemeral nature of the situation we were in. We thought that if Radiance didn’t go gold or have a number one hit, then the next album would, or the one after that. That kept my expectations vague, because I felt they didn’t need a timeline. What was the rush? Well, I now know that that was our chance. At the end of the day, we all knew that top twenty on the modern rock charts and six digit sales were good. We wanted a platinum record, of course. But looking back, we enjoyed the perfect level of success. We had a hit, but it wasn’t such a big one that we had to go on the second act of our lives forever being haunted by our teenage identities. (Because, despite of Fitzgerald’s statement to the contrary, there are, of course, second acts in American lives.)

Before the band could get a follow up record out, you left to go back to school. What made you decide to leave the band after having that first hit record and focus on building a writing and teaching career instead?

That wasn’t the decision I was facing, exactly. Here’s the situation. I’d finished recording Athenaeum’s second record. I could stay in North Carolina and wait to tour for its release, whenever that happened. At the same time, I had a spot waiting for me at an Ivy League school and an offer to begin playing and recording with NYC’s Skeleton Key, a band also on a major label at the time (Capitol) who I was a fan of. So quitting Athenaeum for me was actually less about Athenaeum, and more about wanting even more artistically – both from my musical career, and from my writing career. I love the members of Athenaeum, and any time you can say that about people you’ve been in a band with for more than a decade, you know it’s special. But I’m ambitious. So yes, I got a degree at Columbia and learned how to write well, but I also had a very successful run as a session drummer in those years (primarily recording and/or touring with Longwave and Ben Lee, in addition to Skeleton Key). In many ways I enjoyed even more success musically then than I did with Athenaeum. I had a lot of work, and it was lucrative and artistically rewarding. So quitting Athenaeum actually enabled a real blossoming of my musical career. Then I moved to Iowa and wrote a book. But that came at the right time and was the start of the newest artist phase of my life – that of a writer, and now – believe it or not – a professor. I never play drums anymore.

Nic has actually written two books, which you can read about and purchase on his website.

Atlantic Starr
“Love Crazy” 1991, #75 (8 weeks) (download)
“I’ll Remember You” 1994, #55 (13 weeks) (download)

To me, Atlantic Starr is an ‘80s group. Even though “Masterpiece” hit #3 in 1992 they were certainly at the tail end of a decent career. Even so, “Love Crazy” goes down as one of the best songs of their run. “I’ll Remember You” turns out okay in the end but starts off like crap and since it’s the lead track on Time, the last album from them that anyone bothered with, it’s no surprise they didn’t have more hits after this one.

Sherrie Austin
“Never Been Kissed” 1999, #89 (10 weeks) (download)

I’ve never heard anything from Sherrie Austin aside from her singles, but “Never Been Kissed” is a fantastic tune. Based on this alone, I think she could have had a bigger career if she was a pop singer as this really only has a slight country feel to it.

Bobby Ross Avila
“La La Love” 1993, #86 (3 weeks) (download)

It’s hard to believe that Avila was only 18 when he recorded this. You can tell when you are watching the video but not simply by listening to the tune. He’s certainly got a more mature voice than most of the teenagers in the decade.

Avila was on Perspective records (not the same label of my elusive Shamus M’Cool) which was run by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis and he’s parlayed that into writing and performing for some big names like Earth, Wind & Fire, Janet Jackson, Usher and Gwen Stefani. Unfortunately, as I was looking through his song credits, while he worked with those artists, he seems to be present on tracks that end up being filler. The dude is talented, no doubt, but I just can’t find that one single that would put his name on everyone’s tongue.

Babyface
“For the Cool In You” 1993, #81 (9 weeks) (download)

“For the Cool In You” was the title track from Babyface’s 4th album and the only one of four singles that didn’t hit the Top 40 from the disc. It’s one of the more generic songs in his catalog especially when the same album had the excellent #4 smash, “When Can I See You.”

Baby Talk
“Hooked On A Feeling (Ooga-Chaka)” 1998, #71 (6 weeks) (download)

God, I thought I’d never have to relive the dancing baby again, but now that’s all I can think about. As far as I know, this is the only thing the studio musicians lumped under the title of Baby Talk ever did together. Producer David Hummer put the musicians together (names of which I just cannot locate on-line and thank heavens I never bought it back in the day to check the liner notes). It was of course made popular on Ally McBeal and the CD featured a lenticular image of that fucking kid.

Backstreet Boys
“We’ve Got It Goin’ On” 1995, #69 (20 weeks) (download)

This is the very first Backstreet Boys single before anyone had a clue how to market them in the US. It was released in 1995 as a single from the self-titled debut that was only released oversees. It was then included two years later on the second self-titled disc which would be the first to see US distribution. That set them ablaze with “Quit Playing Games (with My Heart),” “As Long As You Love Me,” I’ll Never Break Your Heart,” “All I Have To Give” and “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” all hitting the Top 10 despite the US having no idea what they were back from since again, this was their first release here. Max Martin sighting on this track, ya’ll.

Bad Boys Blue
“Save Your Love” 1993, #81 (7 weeks) (download)

Eurodance!!!!!!

Unbelievably there are two versions of this German pop group today but in 1993, they were just one band. That year, Zoo released a self-titled disc in the US to try to capture the Eurodance magic but the songs really weren’t that great to begin with. “Save Your Love” was the first single and “I Totally Miss You” bubbled under and that was the end of their 15 minutes (though in Germany and Finland they had hits since 1985 and still do well). In 2005 two of the group’s original members split into two bands. John McInerney performs as Bad Boys Blue and Andrew Thomas performs as The Real Bad Boys Blue. As if.

Bad Company
“Holy Water” 1990, #89 (6 weeks) (download)
“This Could Be the One” 1992, #87 (8 weeks) (download)

So yeah, Bad Company were a AAA shell of their former selves at this point but they still rocked out now and then and had the fine vocals of Brian Howe to carry the tunes. A few people were still interested in them though as the Holy Water album in 1990 went platinum on the strength of the sugary ballad “If You Needed Somebody.”

Here Comes Trouble was the follow up record to that and their last one with Howe singing lead. “How About That” spent six weeks at #1 on the rock charts and hit #38 on the Hot 100 giving them one last push to sell records. “This Could Be the One” would be the 17th and final Hot 100 song of their career.

Bad English
“Heaven Is A 4 Letter Word” 1990, #66 (9 weeks) (download)
“Straight To Your Heart” 1991, #42 (13 weeks) (download)

I said back in the ‘80s version that I love John Waite’s voice, so I was all over the first Bad English album. Obviously “When I See You Smile” was the monster song off the disc but “Heaven Is A 4 Letter Word” was a rockin’ tune. Unfortunately, their second record – Backlash – was a fucking mess and proved to be their final record. “Straight To Your Heart” would have been a bigger hit if someone had bothered to take the time to write a real chorus.

The Badlees
“Angeline Is Coming Home” 1996, #67 (11 weeks) (download)

The Badlees had existed since 1989-ish with their first independent EP being released in 1990. I remember them making a nice name for themselves in the Philadelphia area where they are from, way before “Angeline Is Coming Home” was released, but it’s both this song and “Fear of Falling” that put them on the map. The River Songs album from which these came, was also an indie release before A&M signed them and put them on Polydor. Unfortunately for them, the usual corporate bullshit went on and after the next album being pushed back to an “indefinite” status, they again went indie, soon after signing with Ark 21 records, which was going bankrupt by the time they released the excellent Up There, Down Here in 1999.

Badlees guitarist and primary songwriter Bret Alexander was kind enough to talk about “Angeline” and the band a little with me.

I grew up in Philly, so I was aware of the band before you went national as PA stations gave you more airplay than they gave most independent artists, but what was the feeling like for you and the band when “Angeline Is Coming Home” went national and you started seeing it climb the charts?

Well, in our case it was a long time coming. We had been at it nonstop for 6 years at that point. I remember when we were about to put out River Songs (the record that “Angeline” was on) we had a meeting and decided not to shop it to major labels. We were just very frustrated about trying to get a deal and decided to just do business independently. of course, that is when we got a deal. We were excited about the success for sure. But we didn’t spend much time sitting back and enjoying it. We went right on the road.

In the mid-90s the musical climate feels like it changed on a daily basis. With hip-hop/rap really taking center stage at this point, was it difficult for the Badlees to fit in nationally after River Songs came out?

A few years before we got a deal the wind started blowing in our direction musically. Counting Crows, Gin Blossoms, Hootie and the Blowfish were all doing well. So we had a home at radio and on the road. Sure there was alot of hip hop and grunge and whatnot, but our music had its niche.

I know Polydor was sold in ’98 or so and your next album got held up in record label hell before you ultimately went back to being an indie artist again. How dissapointing was it that at the peak of your career with the group, it was a record label holding you back from follow up success?

It was a double edged sword. We had done the grass roots things regionally, but our label had certainly been responsible for a big part of our national success to begin with. We got some great opportunities from being signed to Polydor. And we had some good people in our corner. At the end of the River Songs tour we had sold about 250,000 records. Enough to call it a successful first tour. So to have it all completely go away after all that hard work was certainly frustrating. Even more frustrating was the fact that we were in limbo with the label. It was like getting fired from a job and not being allowed to go get a new one. Those were a rough couple years.

And finally, the Badlees are back! After a seven year-or-so layoff between albums, you guys released Love Is Rain in 2009. How has the reception been towards that record and what are you and the band up to as we speak?

The new record has been very well received. I think we are sounding better than ever. Right now we are working on a “Best Of” collection, a new record, a documentary about the history of the band, and we have a film in production that features our music and story. So we are busy for sure. I do alot of producing of other bands now too. Doing that has given me a new appreciation for how hard The Badlees work to this day.

Check out the new Badlees album and keep in touch with what they are doing at their website and Alexander runs his own studio called Saturation Acres.

Erykah Badu featuring Rahzel
“Southern Gul” 1999, #76 (6 weeks) (download)

Well respected but not nearly as successful as she should be (though, seven million in sales in the US isn’t slumming it either), Badu has been making fantastic R&B since the mid-90s. “Southern Gul” has more of a hip-hop flair than her usual singles and was a one-off from a compilation called Make the Music 2000. Earlier in the year she guested on the Grammy winning “You Got Me “ by the Roots, so then Roots member, beatboxer Razhel, returned the favor and provided the mouth beats for this tune, one of my favorites from her.

Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’90s, Vol. 3

Dave Steed — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:30:23 +0000

Bottom Feeders is back! And this time, we’re going ’90s on your ass. If you missed the two ’80s editions, here’s the deal. Bottom Feeders takes a look back at every song that hit the Billboard Hot 100 charts, but only if they didn’t crack the top 40. It’s not meant to be a comprehensive review of each tune or each artist, but rather my view of the music I grew up loving. It’s meant to bring back all the great and really crappy songs that have faded into oblivion over time for one reason or another. And, the series is designed to get discussions going about the music. I don’t have expert knowledge of every song posted here but I want to hear from you with your memories of the tunes, comments about a artist or general thoughts.

Section 1: The Ass End

Alpha Team
“Speed” 1993, #74 (8 weeks) (download)

“Speed” is one of these tunes that I just can’t picture anyone playing on the radio. I’ve heard the song before but Philadelphia radio couldn’t have done much with this if anything because I only remember if from picking it up sometime in the ‘00s.

Alpha Team were a rave crew from Chicago made up of Dane Roewade and D.J. Attack. “Speed” goes down as a novelty record thanks to all the Speed Racer samples included in it.

A.L.T. and the Lost Civilization
“Tequila” 1992, #48 (14 weeks) (download)

Yeah, of course it’s that “Tequila” but a rap remake from Al Trivette aka A.L.T. who was one of the rappers in the Latin Alliance that also happened to do a pseudo-remake of War’s “Low Rider” – essentially the two songs that it feels like every Latino artist does as some point in their career.

Amber
“Colour of Love” 1997, #74 (10 weeks) (download)
“One More Night” 1997, #58 (20 weeks) (download)
“Sexual (Li Da Di)” 1999, #42 (29 weeks) (download)

What happened to Amber in the charts seems very typical to the decade. Her first single “This Is Your Night” was a smash hit, or so I would have thought upon hearing it every 10 minutes. Or maybe it’s just because Night at the Roxbury is one of my favorite movies and it’s got a part in it. But it only hit #24 on the Billboard chart. She had other good songs like “Colour of Love” but nothing as catchy as the first one and therefore couldn’t recreate the (sort-of) chart success right out of the gate.

Tori Amos
“God” 1994, #72 (12 weeks) (download)
“Caught a Lite Sneeze” 1996, #60 (13 weeks) (download)
“Silent All These Years” 1997, #65 (20 weeks) (download)
“Spark” 1998, #49 (14 weeks) (download)
“Jackie’s Strength” 1998, #54 (5 weeks) (download)
“Bliss” 1999, #91 (2 weeks) (download)

Another oddity of the charts here, as Tori Amos never had a top 40 hit. With how unconditionally loved she was for the longest time and with some really good songs at the beginning of her career, it’s a bit of a shock. “God” went to #2 on the modern rock chart and that ended up being her best song in terms of numbers. They clearly didn’t matter though as Tori went on to be a sensation even if her recent music is of debatable quality.

Ana
“Got To Tell Me Something” 1990, #66 (7 weeks) (download)

This is the same Ana that barely made a blip on the chart in 1987 with “Shy Boys.” This one went to #66 at least but was her final charting single.

Leah Andreone
“It’s Alright, It’s Okay” 1997, #57 (20 weeks) (download)

Leah Andreone was the Alanis clone of the moment in 1996 and had two shots to make it happen – first with Veiled in 1997 which was a personal record and two years later with Alchemy which was had more of a sexual vibe to it. Neither were very good overall, but the catchy chorus of “It’s Alright, It’s Okay” gave her her only hit.

Angelina
“Release Me” 1996, #52 (20 weeks) (download)
“I Don’t Need Your Love” 1996, #69 (11 weeks) (download)
“Without Your Love” 1997, #82 (15 weeks) (download)
“Tide Is High” 1997, #89 (4 weeks) (download)

Honestly, I thought I wouldn’t encounter any artist in the ‘90s with this many hits that I had never remotely heard of but here she is, right in the letter A. Joel Whitburn tells me she’s from California and on Upstairs records. I’m supposing I’ve never heard any of these because there just wasn’t a station in Philadelphia (where I grew up) and Trenton, NJ (where I went to college) that really played pure dance music. And that’s what makes four songs here so surprising. This really isn’t the dance pop that was hitting at this time, all of them are really club tunes so I would have expected these to show up only on the dance charts. And yes, “Tide is High” is a remake of the Blondie tune.

Anything Box
“Living In Oblivion” 1990, #65 (10 weeks) (download)

I know my weaknesses and one of those is real knowledge of Anything Box, a group which never got any airplay in Philadelphia but seems to be a beloved institution in the world of synthpop. So I called in an expert. Enter faithful reader, King of Grief for his quick take (thanks KoG)

KoG: Euroda…nope, scratch that. It’s three kids from New Jersey, whose lone Hot 100 entry set Houston airwaves and dance floors aflame at the ass end of 1989. I was working at an indie record shop when “Living in Oblivion” was first picked up by our Top 40 outlets, and before a commercial single was issued, confused customers would pick up the self-titled Living in a Box album thinking they were getting that hot new dance song on the radio. Eventually the 12″ would hit shelves, followed by their major-label debut, Peace. Even after their deal with Epic fell through, Houston maintained its A-Box loyalty, on the air and in the clubs, for years to come. The original lineup–Claude Strilio, Dania Morales and Paul Rijnders–still tours regularly, having made H-town stops twice in the past three years. The existence of an Argentinian fan page on Facebook goes to show just how far south their popularity flourishes.

Apache
“Gangsta Bitch” 1993, #67 (10 weeks) (download)

I don’t remember anyone that ran in my crowd that didn’t think “Gangsta Bitch” was the jam. This song was one of the more serious tunes on Apache’s debut album – Apache Ain’t Shit – which was highly controversial at the time. People didn’t know whether to laugh at things like “Who Freaked Who” in which female rapped Nikki D sang about how Apache sucked in bed or cringe at blatantly racist tunes like “A Fight” and the interlude “Kill D’White People.” No part of the record has ever bothered me though.

Around the Way
“Really Into You” 1992, #89 (5 weeks) (download)

It didn’t take much in 1992 to get an R&B hit. Take one of the best and easiest beats from the ‘80s to sample, add a hip-hop drumbeat behind it and voila, a hit was born. And even though singer Lena Fraticelli didn’t have a fantastic voice, it was good enough to get Around the Way their 15 minutes of fame.

Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’90s, Vol. 2

Dave Steed — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:30:51 +0000

Bottom Feeders is back! And this time, we’re going ’90s on your ass. If you missed the two ’80s editions, here’s the deal. Bottom Feeders takes a look back at every song that hit the Billboard Hot 100 charts, but only if they didn’t crack the top 40. It’s not meant to be a comprehensive review of each tune or each artist, but rather my view of the music I grew up loving. It’s meant to bring back all the great and really crappy songs that have faded into oblivion over time for one reason or another. And, the series is designed to get discussions going about the music. I don’t have expert knowledge of every song posted here but I want to hear from you with your memories of the tunes, comments about a artist or general thoughts.

Don’t forget there’s pages 2-4 to check out if you want bonus material and top 40 info!

Section 1: The Ass End

After 7
“Kickin’ It” 1992, #45 (13 weeks) (download)
“Baby I’m For Real (Natural High)” 1992, #55 (18 weeks) (download)
“Gonna Love You Right” 1994, #87 (6 weeks) (download)

After 7’s back story is really quite interesting due to one fact. See, almost everyone, including myself for the longest time and even the current edition of the Billboard bible of music, lists the members of the group as Melvin and Kevon Edmonds, both brothers of Babyface and Keith Mitchell, cousin of LA Reid. However, Mitchell has since come out here and there and stated that he’s no relation to Reid. Instead he was just friends with Kevon and Babyface and Reid just thought it would be a better story if he was the cousin. Pulled the wool right over my eyes.

Either way though, the group had some really good tracks like “Heat of the Moment” and “Can’t Stop” but were signed to Virgin records unheard due to the lineage, so in reality the whole group was kind of a marketing gimmick from the start. Fortunately for them though, Babyface didn’t get all the talent in that family as they turned out to be at least above average for a decent 6-7 year run on the charts.

Oh, and is “After 7” supposed to represent the time that it starts to get sexy because my son stays up until 8 pm or so, so that time seems to be a little early, don’tcha think?

Aftershock
“Goin’ Through the Motions” 1991, #52 (16 weeks) (download)

This was the only hit for Aftershock which was comprised of a rapper (Guy Charles Routte) and a singer (Jose Rivera). “Goin’ Through the Motions” is a pretty good representation of what they were about. They were nothing terribly special but decent enough to capture both the audience of someone like After 7 and also Color Me Badd.

Alabama
“How Do You Fall In Love” 1998, #82 (5 weeks) (download)
“Keepin’ Up” 1999, #69 (8 weeks) (download)

Both of these tunes clearly hit the chart because people ate up the For the Record double disc Greatest Hits release in ’98 (now retitled Essential). They were two of the three new tunes on the disc which was promoted initially as having all 41 #1 hits from Alabama in one place. No doubt Alabama was a good band but keep in mind that anything and everything went to #1 on the country charts.

Al B. Sure
“Misunderstanding” 1990, #42 (14 weeks) (download)
“Right Now” 1992, #47 (20 weeks) (download)

I mentioned back in the original ‘80s edition of Bottom Feeders that I wasn’t a big fan of Al’s singing voice (though I know that isn’t the opinion of the majority of the R&B world) so I never bothered picking up 1990’s Private Times…and the whole 9! or the awkwardly titled follow up – 1992’s Sexy Versus. My problem was simply that his falsetto just didn’t work for me however, I had no issues with his more upbeat new jack swing songs since it was closer to a rap which he performed in a deeper voice. “Misunderstanding” fits in the latter category and is enjoyable but I think “Right Now” is horribly off in the harmony vocals.

We also have our first BFS (Bottom Feeders sighting) of the year on “Misunderstanding.” That’s Mr. Teddy Riley producing, ya’ll.

Alias
“Perfect World” 1991, #90 (4 weeks) (download)

Alias was Sheriff meets Heart with Freddy Curci and Steve DiMarchi from the former pairing up with pretty much the entire backing band of the latter. And their music sounds exactly like what you’d expect getting those two together. Exactly.

“Perfect World” was their final hit on the Hot 100 which you can find on the Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead soundtrack. The dishes are done, man.

Alisha
“Bounce Back” 1990, #54 (8 weeks) (download)

This was the title track from Alisha’s third and final record. I think by this point she had worn out this sound, but I’m not shocked that this was still even a minor hit in 1990. Alisha was a good singer that never truly broke through.

Odd fact: Alisha sings the theme song to the Will Ferrell/Molly Shannon shitfest, Superstar.

Tha Alkaholiks
“Hip Hop Drunkies” 1997, #66 (9 weeks) (download)

The ‘90s had a lot of lighthearted rap tunes and a lot of filth for the sake of being filth. J-Ro, Tash and E-Swift of Tha Alkaholiks were somewhere in between. “Hip Hop Drunkies” isn’t exactly “I Got A Man” but it’s got an element of fun in it as well and if you’re going to call a song “Hip Hop Drunkies” then Ol’ Dirty Bastard was certainly the rapper that was the perfect guest. It certainly is the only song I think I’ve ever heard something like “I’m in your butthole / wherever it goes.” But that’s ODB for you.

The radio version is in the video below.

All City
“The Actual” 1998, #75 (4 weeks) (download)

“The Actual” is one of the great lost rap songs of the ‘90s. All City only released one record and got their 15 minutes of fame as they had associated with Onyx in their heyday. Their lone record, Metropolis Gold was an intelligent and catchy record with songs produced by Pete Rock, the Rockwilder and DJ Premiere on this tune. The album suffers from what almost every rap record in the ‘90s and maybe even today does – it’s way too long – but “The Actual” is undeniably catchy.

All-4-One
“(She’s Got) Skillz” 1995, #57 (20 weeks) (download)

Between 1994 and 2001 I probably bought a good two thousand CDs. I don’t really know how and looking back I probably could have paid for my son’s college with the money I spent, but at one point I was going to school and working five jobs (I’m not kidding) so I thought I deserved to spend my money. But in the great purge of 2003 I got rid of probably three or four thousand CDs leaving me what I would estimate to be about maybe 400 or so CD’s from the ‘90s left.

Today, if you went through my physical CD’s, not counting “the collection” of ‘80s music, there would be a few hundred that I collected from the college radio station I worked at and maybe 100 from the decade that I actually bought. So where is this going? Two of those 100 CDs belong to All-4-One. Somehow purge after purge All-4-One made it through unscathed.

I did stop buying them after And the Music Speaks in 1995 and in fact I didn’t even know they had four more records since then but to me, these guys were just plain smooth back then. I don’t look back and think the same thing now but as the king of the mix CD, every woman that I macked on in the mid-90s got “These Arms” on the disc. I’m pretty sure none of them ever spoke to me again.

And of course there’s “(She’s Got) Skillz.” The guys weren’t exactly known for their upbeat tracks so it’s no surprise this didn’t chart higher. They sang so romantically on most of their tracks and then this one comes along where “she shimmies up my jimmy” and “in the morning when I’m yawning / she gives me her sticky bun” (I still don’t think I get this one and I think supermaning a girl wasn’t even coined yet, so…unless they were actually singing about a sticky bun…nah). Just a pretty silly track that doesn’t represent them too well at all.

Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’90s, Vol. 1

Dave Steed — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:30:51 +0000

Bottom Feeders is back! And this time, we’re going ’90s on your ass. If you missed the two ’80s editions, here’s the deal. Bottom Feeders takes a look back at every song that hit the Billboard Hot 100 charts, but only if they didn’t crack the top 40. It’s not meant to be a comprehensive review of each tune or each artist, but rather my view of the music I grew up loving. It’s meant to bring back all the great and really crappy songs that have faded into oblivion over time for one reason or another. And, the series is designed to get discussions going about the music. I don’t have expert knowledge of every song posted here but I want to hear from you with your memories of the tunes, comments about a artist or general thoughts.

The ’90s brought us something interesting too, in the form of the airplay chart. The chart started in 1984 and ran until December of 1998. The Hot 100 was based on both airplay and sales of the single version of the track. The airplay chart was created for those songs without commercial singles. This didn’t occur a lot in the ’80s but was very prevalent in ’90s especially with alternative and college rock tracks. At the end of 1998, they made these songs eligible for the Hot 100. I’m not going to talk about those tunes that hit the airplay chart only, but they will be posted in a special section so you can see what songs would have charted had Billboard revised their policies earlier. Also listed but not discussed will be the top 40 hits and the bubbling under tunes. They are on pages 2-4 if you are interested.

Songs will remain posted for a month after they first show up before being deleted, so grab ‘em while their hot.

Section 1: The Ass End

A+
“All I See” 1996, #66 (14 weeks) (download)
“Enjoy Yourself” 1998, #63 (3 weeks) (download)

It’s kind of fitting that the Ass End of the ‘90s begins with a teenage rapper. The ‘90s were the decade that anyone that could half-ass a rhyme could get a record deal and kids were no exception to the rule.

Andre Levins was a New York rapper who was born in 1982 which made him 13 at the point “All I See” was released. “Enjoy Yourself” is the better of the two tunes here even if Walter Murphy’s “A Fifth of Beethoven” was sampled for the 10,000th time on it.

Though I see no other evidence of a record, it seems like he’s still making music as he released a video called “Who Stole Hip Hop?” in 2009. I’m pretty certain that A+ is in the clear on this one.

Aaliyah
“Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number” 1995, #75 (8 weeks) (download)

Considering that Aaliyah had her first hit at 15 and before she died in 2001 was a superstar artist and had a budding movie career, I don’t think it’s out of the question that she could have still been a major hit today.

If you had to name one Aaliyah song today you’d probably go with “Are You That Somebody?” first, which was her biggest hit in the ‘90s. “Try Again” went to #1 in 2000, but it’s the Timbaland produced smash that I remember the most. Well, that and the fact that she married R. Kelly at the age of 15. And look at that, R. Kelly wrote and produced “Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number.” Now that I’ve went back and listened to it again, Aaliyah kind of reminds me of Rihanna a bit.

Odd fact: The video for “Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number” had cameos from Bizarre and Proof of Eminem’s gang D12, quite a few years before anyone outside of Detroit had any clue who they were.

Paula Abdul
“Crazy Cool” 1995, #58 (9 weeks) (download)

I’m trying to think back to 1995 and remember if I even knew Paula Abdul put out a third album. I must have because I vaguely remember “Crazy Cool” maybe hearing it once or so but memorable it certainly isn’t. It was the second single off her “comeback” record (Head Over Heels) after overcoming bulimia. The album marked the sensual side of Paula but really, all I hear from this track is something way too adult for my tastes. Then again, it’s certainly not as stupid as “Vibeology” was. “Crazy Cool” was pretty much the end for Paula’s singing career but we all know what she’s doing now.

AB Logic
“The Hitman” 1992, #60 (20 weeks) (download)
“Get Up (Move Boy Move)” 1992, #83 (11 weeks) (download)

Eurodance!!!!!

AB Logic is one of those groups where you remember the song(s) but probably couldn’t say who made the track if there was a gun to your head. For the general public the group was rapper K-Swing and singer Marianne Festraetes but the group and songs were created by producers Jacko Bultinck, Peter Gillis and Phil Wilde. Although both of these could be any one of 1,000 similar songs in the early ‘80s, “The Hitman” remains to this day a recognizable hit song.

AC/DC
“Big Gun” 1993, #65 (11 weeks) (download)

Hey now! It’s AC/DC sounding like AC/DC. The only reason this one was a hit was due to it being part of the movie Last Action Hero. Otherwise, it probably would never had appeared on an AC/DC album and thus we would have been spared.

Ace of Base
“Whenever You’re Near Me” 1998, #76 (5 weeks) (download)

Ace of Base is of course Abba for my generation and I have no problems admitting I liked both groups. I may tend to lean towards Swedish death metal these days but growing up my favorite Swedes were all pop stars.

By the time “Whenever You’re Near Me” came out as the second single off Cruel Summer you kind of new it was the end of the line though. The track technically wasn’t even on the European version. Instead, Clive Davis didn’t think the international hit “Life Is A Flower” wasn’t good enough for America, so the track was recut in a different key and the title was changed to what’s here. Well…the title was changed every place but on the Arista website which was the only promotion for the song, labeled “Whenever You Need Me.” Man, Clive Davis can be a douche.

Bryan Adams
“The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You” 1996, #52 (12 weeks) (download)

I know outside of Canada Bryan Adams can be quite uncool but up until the mid-90s I kind of enjoyed what he was releasing. Waking Up the Neighbours has always been a favorite of mine even if it’s way too long and that record was the start of him mostly collaborating on his own material with Mutt Lange instead of Jim Vallance.

18 til I Die was actually the first album that didn’t have one song co-written with Vallance and Jim has been known to throw in a dig every now and then about the clichéd lyrics on the record with songs like “The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You” and of course the ridiculous “(I Wanna Be) Your Underwear.” That song by the way, is the point I stopped caring at all about Mr. Adams.

Note: Bryan’s duet with Bonnie Raitt in ’95 will appear in her section.

Trace Adkins
“Every Light In the House” 1996, #78 (9 weeks) (download)
“The Rest of Mine” 1997, #70 (16 weeks) (download)

It can often be an interesting look back at the start of the career of current country superstars. Many times these guys have been around for much longer than you expected and like in the case of Adkins, start out with a more traditional country feel than they have these days.

I would have never guessed Adkins had tunes this far back. I mean, I listened to no country music at all until I met my wife in mid-aughts so for me, Trace Adkins is “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” and “Hillbilly Bone.” Both of these tunes aren’t anywhere in the ballpark of those hits. “Every Light in the House” was off his debut record, Dreamin’ Out Loud and “The Rest of Mine” was off Big Time and to this day I do believe marks the only hit song he’s ever had that he had a hand in writing.

Adventures of Stevie V
“Jealousy” 1991, #94 (6 weeks) (download)

Eurodance!!!!!

Stevie V was actually Stevie Vincent, another producer who manufactured a group to generate 15 minutes of fame. The singers Melody Washingon and Mick Walsh are probably sitting somewhere now serving burgers but their debut record generated two hits in the US and was kind of big in England.

Aerosmith
“Blind Man” 1994, #48 (14 weeks) (download)
“Hole In My Soul” 1997, #51 (11 weeks) (download)

Aerosmith only released two studio albums in the ‘90s – Get A Grip and Nine Lives and then two more in the ‘00s with one being a blues record, so how these guys are still kind of relevant, I’m not sure, but they are. I guess it comes down to Steven Tyler being such an oddball and now that he’s been on American Idol, Aerosmith may just go on forever.

I bought every album right through 2001’s Just Push Play and hated that so much that I gave up on them (not that I really had anything to give up on afterwards). But Get A Grip was a damn fine record even if they were now more about the gripping, epic ballad than anything else. “Blind Man” had some balls to it but was still more like “Amazing” and “Cryin’” than their harder rocking material. It was one of two songs off the Greatest Hits record from them that almost everyone owns, Big Ones.

“Hole In My Soul” is a decent song – the second single from Nine Lives, surprisingly released before “Pink” which won them a Grammy.

It Returns!

Dave Steed — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 12:30:11 +0000

01.09.12.
0730.
So much bad music your hard drive will beg you to download a crippling virus.
Go ninja, go ninja, go ninja go.

Bottom Feeders: The Rock End of the ’80s, Final.

Dave Steed — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 11:30:48 +0000

So folks, the end is here. It’s been more than three years, with only a handful of weeks off that Bottom Feeders has run on Wednesday mornings. We started with numbers 41-100 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart and then moved right on to the rock chart. It’s now time to take a little break. As mentioned last week, it may be the end of the series, or it may come back in the future. But for now, we move on. But check out Digging For Gold which is going to replace the series on Wednesday mornings. The first post is already up!
A big thanks to all of you that commented, participated and shared music with me over the years. I owe a big thanks to King of Grief, who introduced the “meltie,” never failed to catch a “fire/desire” rhyme and even did Bottom Feeders themed radio shows over the past few years.
But enough of this sentimental crap, let’s get to the letter Z!! Here’s the final week, looking at the rock charts with songs that failed to cross over to the Hot 100.
Zebra
“Tell Me What You Want” 1983, #29 (download)
“Bears” 1984, #15 (download)
Hey, we’ve finally got another Randy Jackson sighting here! Well, okay this isn’t the leader of the dawg pound but rather the singer and guitarist of early ‘80s rock band, Zebra. “Tell Me What You Want” was from their self-titled debut which is a solid rock record. Their second album – No Tellin’ Lies – was much weaker than the first, not nearly as rockin’ or as catchy. “Bears” is the third track on that album. They released 3V in 1986 which is a very underrated record, then were dropped by Atlantic records and didn’t release another studio recording until they reunited in 2003.
Warren Zevon
“Let Nothing Come Between You” 1982, #24 (download)
“Sentimental Hygiene” 1987, #9 (download)
“Detox Mansion” 1987, #44 (download)
“Run Straight Down” 1989, #30 (download)
I’m not sure I can say I like Warren Zevon because I just don’t think I get his brand of humor but I actually do think at least two of his ‘80s albums are really good. Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School features most of the Eagles, Jackson Browne and Linda Ronstadt among others and 1987’s Sentimental Hygiene which featured all of R.E.M. (later leading to the Hindu Love Gods album), Don Henley, Flea and Bob Dylan simply playing harmonica on “The Factory.” The title track features Neil Young on lead guitar.
I have yet to hear 1982’s The Envoy or 1989’s Transverse City – is it worth picking them up?
ZZ Top
“Tube Snake Boogie” 1981, #4 (download)
“Pearl Necklace” 1981, #28 (download)
“Got Me Under Pressure” 1983, #18 (download)
“TV Dinners” 1983, #38 (download)
“Can’t Stop Rockin’” 1985, #8 (download)
“Delirious” 1986, #16 (download)
“Woke Up With Wood” 1986, #18 (download)
I’m glad we end the series with a group as badass as ZZ Top. Of course, it would have been nice if we were talking ‘70s as the rock songs from their slick period in the ‘80s weren’t quite as good as the crossover tunes.
“Tube Snake Boogie” and “Pearl Necklace” are both from El Loco – the last ZZ Top record to feature that rawer ‘70s rock sound. “Got Me Under Pressure” and “TV Dinners” come from Eliminator. Neither tune is as good as “Legs” or “Sharp Dressed Man” but “Pressure” at least fits in with them. “TV Dinners” is probably the worst song ZZ Top released in the ‘80s.
“Can’t Stop Rockin’” is the best of the three Afterburner tunes here, while neither “Delirious” or “Woke Up With Wood” live up the ZZ Top standard.
Quick Hits
Best Song: ZZ Top, “Tube Snake Boogie”
Worst Song: ZZ Top, “TV Dinners”
Appeared in the rock chart and Hot 100
Robin Zander (1): “Surrender To Me”
Frank Zappa (1): “Valley Girl”
Zebra (1): “Who’s Behind the Door?”
ZZ Top (7): “Gimme All Your Lovin’” “Sharp Dressed Man” “Legs” “Sleeping Bag” “Stages” “Rough Boy” “Velcro Fly”

Bottom Feeders: The Rock End of the ’80s, Part 58

Dave Steed — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 11:30:06 +0000

It’s the next to last week for Bottom Feeders but a grand week it is as it includes one of the most eclectic artists of the series and a true favorite of mine. Without further ado, let’s get to the letters X and Y (that’s right, two letters today!) from the Rock End of the ’80s.
X
“Burning House of Love” 1985, #27 (download)
I think my overall experience with X was ruined based on the fact that my first introduction to the band was with Ain’t Love Grand! – the 1985 album from which “Burning House of Love” was from. The sound of this record is drastically different from their first four records and most of that is courtesy of producer Michael Wagener who produced them as if they were a metal band rather than Ray Manzarek’s who went for the punk sound that made them iconic. I can’t stand the album and thus it took me many years to go back to the first four and understand why everyone seemed to love them. Still, this album will always stick out to me when people use the term “sell out” as X did so to get a hit record.
XTC
“Generals and Majors” 1981, #28 (download)
“Senses Working Overtime” 1982, #38 (download)
“Dear God” 1987, #37 (download)
“King For A Day” 1989, #38 Modern Rock #11 (download)
We talked about most of these songs when XTC was the only band featured under the letter X in the original series. The question really isn’t if any of these are good or not, it’s which one is the best of four excellent tunes.
“Dear God” is a fantastic tune that wasn’t even on the original version of Skylarking until U.S. radio decided to play it as the flip side to the single “Grass.” It was then released on the album in the U.S. and Canada replacing “Mermaid Smiled” even though there was plenty of space to just include it on the disc without taking anything off. But I don’t think anything here can top “Generals and Majors,” the first single from Black Sea and one of the best songs XTC ever made.
Xymox
“Obsession” 1989, Modern Rock #11 (download)
By 1989 Clan of Xymox was simply called Xymox and they released their best album – Twist of Shadows – from which “Obsession” was located. Looking back on the album, it’s very dated and lacked any type of edge, though it still contained a high element of goth that made them such an underground hit in the first place.

Y & T
“Mean Streak” 1983, #25 (download)
“Don’t Stop Runnin’” 1984, #33 (download)
“All American Boy” 1985, #48 (download)
“Contagious” 1987, #41 (download)
In the ‘80s, Yesterday and Today changed their name to simply Y&T and released six albums, one of which was actually good. It’s a shame the chart didn’t begin earlier as their 1981 album Earthshaker isn’t quite that, but it’s worth a front to back listen for tracks like “Hungry For Rock” and “Dirty Girl.” Each album after that seemed to get worse, though every one of them has tracks worth listening to. “Mean Streak” off the album of the same name is one of the better songs of this period as is “Don’t Stop Runnin’”
Their biggest hit was “Summertime Girls” off the relatively weak Down For the Count, which also included the pedestrian “All American Boy.” “Contagious” seems like the dying screams of a band soon to break up.
Yes
“Our Song” 1983, #32 (download)
“Changes” 1983, #6 (download)
“Hold On” 1984, #43 (download)
“Hold On” 1985, #27 (download)
“Shoot High Aim Low” 1987, #11 (download)
“Final Eyes” 1988, #20 (download)
There are certainly members of this staff more qualified than me to discuss the merits of Yes, since I don’t necessarily like prog-rock. That said, the one period of the band I did like was of course the commercial ‘80s era material, so I do at least have decent knowledge of these songs.
Rock radio of course played a bit more of the prog material while the Hot 100 strayed towards the poppier stuff. “Changes” is one of the most memorable songs off 90125 other than “Owner of a Lonely Heart” but I’ve never been able to get into “Hold On,” either the studio version or the live version that charted the following year when 9012Live got released. ‘87s Big Generator really isn’t a great album but “Final Eyes” is one of the better tunes on the disc. I can certainly live without “Shoot High Aim Low” though.
Neil Young
“Surfer Joe and Moe the Sleaze” 1982, #56 (download)
“Mr. Soul” 1983, #14 (download)
“We R In Control” 1983, #42 (download)
“Touch the Night” 1986, #8 (download)
“Weight of the World” 1986, #33 (download)
“Long Walk Home” 1987, #14 (download)
“Ten Men Workin’” 1988, #6 (download)
“This Note’s For You” 1988, #19 (download)
“Rockin’ in the Free World” 1989, #2 (download)
“No More” 1989, #7 (download)
Has there been any artist in this series that has had such an eclectic group of hit songs? I’m a huge fan of Neil Young, one of the few artists that I will listen to anything from (yes, all the way back to his debut – weird for the guy that doesn’t listen to ‘60s and ‘70s music) and yet I still didn’t realize most of these made a dent in any chart.
I mean, it’s impossible for me to think that any station in the country played “Surfer Joe and Moe the Sleeze” or frankly anything off Re-ac-tor enough times to have it even hit the rock bottom of this chart for a week.
On the other hand, Trans still gets panned, but I really enjoy the record. Think what you want about the vocoder filled tracks like “Mr. Soul” and “We R In Control” but the melodies on all of those tracks are pretty damn great. The album feels weird thanks to the vocoder only being present in five of the nine tracks, but I still give Neil credit for doing something different on this one.
After Trans, there’s a little chart break for Neil as he put out Everybody’s Rockin’ – his unlistenable rockabilly album – and Old Ways, a pure country record that’s rather dull.
That was followed by Landing On Water, which I don’t think anyone but me likes. I’m not saying it’s the greatest record in the world but it’s a bizarre attempt at commercial rock while failing to get anything close to radio readiness out of it. I don’t know if I’ve ever really understood the album – just an attempt to piss Geffen off by giving them the rock record they wanted but making it just shitty enough to not get real airplay? Or did Neil really think some of the tunes like “Touch the Night” would be real hits? Somewhere in this is a big middle finger of some sort which is part of the Neil Young charm.
Critics seemed to like 1987’s Life a little better though it’s one of the few albums that I can’t listen to from the man. “Long Walk Home” was the only charting song from it.
I’m also not a blues fan so This Note’s For You doesn’t do much for me either though I can respect the change in sound again. The album was originally credited to Neil Young and the Bluenotes until Harold Melvin sued him and now it’s considered a Neil Young solo record (though really it’s now Neil Young and Ten Men Workin’). It’s funny to think that the title track didn’t do more on the charts since MTV played the video every four minutes in 1988.
Though if there’s any song that should be the surprise non-cross over song it’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” – still one of Neil’s best songs and of course covered by about 10,000 artists since its release. The track was off Freedom which the first album of a very creative six to seven year period for Neil, the pinnacle being the almost perfect Ragged Glory from 1990.
Quick Hits
Best Song: Neil Young, “Rockin’ in the Free World”
Worst Song: Y & T, “Contagious”
Appeared in the rock chart and Hot 100
XTC (1): “The Mayor Of Simpleton”
Y & T (1): “Summertime Girls”
“Weird Al” Yankovic (1): “Eat It”
Yes (5): “Owner Of A Lonely Heart” “It Can Happen” “Leave It” “Love Will Find A Way” “Rhythm Of Love”
Neil Young (2): “Southern Pacific” “Little Thing Called Love”
Paul Young (3): “Come Back and Stay” “Everytime You Go Away” “Some People”

Bottom Feeders: The Rock End of the ’80s, Part 57

Dave Steed — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 11:30:58 +0000

We’ve almost reached the end of Bottom Feeders: The Rock End of the ’80s. This week, we’ll hit the second half of W. Next week X and Y and the following week you’ll get your ZZ Top before the series takes an indefinite hiatus. If you haven’t seen my comments on the matter or haven’t been following along, here’s the official announcement – when the Rock End is through, the series will be put on hold, maybe temporarily, maybe permanently. Not only did a I need a little break from what’s been a weekly column for more than three years running but I struggled mightily with what direction to go with the series. However, now that I’ve made the decision to hang it up, I’m already getting the urge to do another series.
Something cool is going to replace this on Wednesdays in a few weeks, so no worries there. I won’t give it away but I’m sure most of you will enjoy it very much but I still wanted to get the reader opinion on what to do with the series should I decide to write up another chart. I have all the songs from two other charts and have enough knowledge of them to feel comfortable making a series out of either the R&B charts from the ’80s or the Hot 100 from the ’90s. If I were to do another one, which would you rather see (or do neither of them interest you?).
Anyway, it’s time for the songs. More from the letter W as we take a look at the songs from the ’80s that hit the rock charts but failed to cross over into the Hot 100.
The Who
“Another Tricky Day” 1981, #6 (download)
“Daily Records” 1981, #36 (download)
“Did You Steal My Money” 1981, #38 (download)
“You” 1981, #51 (download)
“How Can You Do It Alone” 1981, #50 (download)
“Cry If You Want” 1982, #34 (download)
“Dangerous” 1982, #38 (download)
“It’s Hard” 1982, #39 (download)
“Dig” 1989, #9 (download)
“Fire” 1989, #44 (download)
My son is going to be three in just a couple months and in the past three years of learning to be a father for the first time, there is one thing I’ve missed more than anything else – the ability to listen to records at any point and time and as loud as I want to. And that comes into play with the Who more than any other band right now.
As a fan of rock music, I know that the fact I’ve never heard a non-‘80s Who album from start to finish is ridiculous and I’ve been trying to find the time to start from ‘65s My Generation and work my way through 2006’s Endless Wire but it just isn’t there. The Who are #1 on my list of bands to get more familiar with followed closely by Thin Lizzy..
1981’s Face Dances and 1982’s It’s Hard are the only two studio albums I’ve listened to end to end and of course I realize that’s not the best representation of the group as a whole. I definitely like Pete Townshend’s solo work better than either of those albums and at least a little of Roger Daltrey’s as well.
The first five tracks here are the final five tracks on Face Dances. They all have such a different vibe that it makes the flip side of the album a little inconsistent. But the John Entwistle written, “You” is my favorite of the five tunes.
The next three tunes come from It’s Hard, an album that has gotten very mixed reviews over the years. I can take it or leave it though I do completely love “Eminence Front.” In what appears to be a trend here, “Dangerous” is my favorite of the three tunes – also an Entwistle tune. “It’s Hard” however, is my least favorite tune on either album.
Both “Dig” and “Fire” are Who tunes from Pete Townshend’s Iron Man: The Musical.
Danny Wilde
“Isn’t It Enough” 1986, #35 (download)
“Time Runs Wild” 1988, #15 (download)
Danny Wilde was formerly of Great Buildings in the early ‘80s and then after three solo records in the mid-to-late ‘80s he helped form the Rembrandts. Both of these tunes are some of the finest moments of power pop. “Isn’t It Enough” from his best solo record, The Boyfriend and the “Time Runs Wild” from the Dream a Little Dream soundtrack as well as his second record, Any Man’s Hunger.
Kim Wilde
“Water On Glass” 1982, #53 (download)
Although I’m going to bet that most of you will be on the opposite end of the court from me, I was more of a fan of Wilde’s late ‘80s pop material than her early ‘80s new wave stuff. Almost all of her early material was written by her dad Marty and brother Ricky but she didn’t become a big hit in the US until she started co-writing her own material and bringing in outside producers to generate more of a pop sound.
“Water On Glass” was the lead track from her self-titled debut and while there’s no denying that the bigger single, “Kids in America” from the same record, was a killer song, the chorus to this one sounds so whiney to me that it’s almost impossible for me to listen to.
Will and the Kill
“Heart of Steel” 1988, #28 (download)
“Heart of Steel” had to chart simply because Will was Will Sexton, brother of Charlie Sexton who worked on the debut record with the group. It certainly couldn’t have been due to the quality of the song as Will’s vocals on this tune are simply horrendous.
Willie and the Poor Boys
“Baby Please Don’t Go” 1985, #35 (download)
I’m fascinated that information on Willie and the Poor Boys isn’t that easy to come by on the web. This gem sort of floats under the radar a bit even though it’s from the supergroup of Andy Fairweather Low (Amen Corner), guitarist Mickey Gee and of course Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts of the Stones.
Brian Wilson
“Love and Mercy” 1988, #40 (download)
As you should be aware of by this point, I’m no Beach Boys fan and because of that, this was doomed from the start for me. And although I’m biased, I still have to say this song and the debut solo record from Wilson are a god-awful train wreck but still not quite as bad as the group’s Still Crusin’ in 1989.
Winger
“Madalaine” 1988, #27 (download)
Rip the group all you want, they deserve it but I still think Kip Winger is a talented musician. Of course he went from being the bassist on two of Alice Cooper’s shittiest records to hair metal so mocking was in order from the start. “Madalaine” was actually released as the first single from the debut Winger record and failed to chart in the Hot 100.
Winter Hours
“Smoke Rings” 1989, Modern Rock #12 (download)
Winter Hours were a New Jersey based indie group who had their one taste of minor success with “Smoke Rings” from their debut album.

Johnny Winter
“Rain” 1988, #43 (download)
The brother of Edgar Winter, Johnny had two songs on the rock charts – 1991’s “Illustrated Man” and “Rain” which charted 29 years after his first album.
Steve Winwood
“Split Decision” 1986, #3 (download)
“Take It As It Comes” 1986, #33 (download)
“Put On Your Dancing Shoes” 1988, #25 (download)
When I say that I completely love Steve’s Back in the High Life album, keep in mind that since I don’t listen to anything from before the ‘80s my knowledge of any of his previous bands is minimal. That’s not to say I don’t see why it gets a bad rap these days for being pretty lightweight pop music, but for me growing up with it, it was the only thing I knew from him and was my introduction to the “Steve Winwood keyboard sound” that permeates dozens of great ‘80s tunes. It was a little surprising to me though to see “Take It As It Comes” only hit #33 with the inferior “Split Decision” hit #3. In fact, it was the second highest charting rock single off the record after “Higher Love.” Whether any of the six songs that charted are rock tunes to begin with is a different debate.
On the other hand, I thought Roll With It was relatively boring compared to High Life, though “Dancing Shoes” was the only track out of five rock tunes that didn’t cross over into the hot 100.
Wire
“Eardrum Buzz” 1989, Modern Rock #2 (download)
“In Vivo” 1989, Modern Rock #24 (download)
Although this was really the most successful Wire ever got chart wise, the album from which these came (It’s Beginning To and Back Again or IBTABA) was really the last halfway decent record they made during their second incarnation. The album consisted of a lot of live material from their last record, taken back into the studio and remixed to form new studio tracks of sort. “Eardrum Buzz” and “In Vivo” were new songs though, with the latter only on the CD version of the album.
The Wonder Stuff
“Give, Give, Give, Me More, More, More” 1989, Modern Rock #17 (download)
This tune with the Abba-like title, comes from the excellent debut record from the group called The Eight Legged Groove Machine. They would have five more hits on the modern rock charts in the coming years but never crossed over into the Hot 100.
Peter Wolf
“Crazy” 1984, #26 (download)
I learned something new as I was writing this up when I pulled out Wolf’s debut solo record – Lights Out – to listen to it again. I don’t think I realized that almost the entire album including “Crazy” was co-written with Michael Jonzun from electro-funk group The Jonzun Crew. That’s pretty funky.
World Trade
“The Revolution Song” 1989, #33 (download)
I really dig “The Revolution Song” though I guess not that much, since I’ve never bothered acquiring the first of two World Trade albums. The group was led by Billy Sherwood who would go on to play with a bunch of prog-rock groups including Yes for two records and now the terribly titled Yoso supergroup of Yes and Toto members.
Wrabit
“Anyway Anytime” 1982, #17 (download)
“Anyway Anytime” is the laughable single from the short lived Canadian arena rock group, Wrabit. The vocals of singer Lou Nadeau are so over-the-top and that guitar solo is so weak that the song comes off like a bad joke, those wrascally wrabits.
Quick Hits
Best Song: Danny Wilde, “Isn’t It Enough”
Worst Song: Wrabit, “Anyway Anytime”
Appeared in the rock chart and Hot 100
The Who (3): “You Better You Bet” “Athena” “Eminence Front”
Kim Wilde (1): “Kids In America”
Ann Wilson (2): “The Best Man in the World” “Surrender To Me”
Winger (3): “Seventeen” “Headed for a Heartbreak” “Hungry”
Steve Winwood (14): “While You See A Chance” “Arc of a Diver” “Still in the Game” “Valerie” (original) “Higher Love” “Freedom Overspill” “Back in the High Life Again” “The Finer Things” “Valerie” (remake) “Talking Back To the Night” “Roll With It” “Don’t You Know What the Night Can Do” “Holding On” “Hearts on Fire”
Peter Wolf (4): “Lights Out” “I Need You Tonight” “Comes As You Are” “Can’t Get Started”
World Party (1): “Ship of Fools”
Gary Wright (1): “Really Wanna Know You”

Bottom Feeders: The Rock End of the ’80s, Part 56

Dave Steed — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 12:08:51 +0000

Just four weeks left until the end of the Bottom Feeders series. Get your ’80s fix while you can by listening to more songs that hit the rock charts in the decade but failed to cross over into the Billboard Hot 100.
Joe Walsh
“Things” 1981, #36 (download)
“Rivers (of the Hidden Funk)” 1981, #35 (download)
“Waffle Stomp” 1982, #20 (download)
“I Can Play That Rock & Roll” 1983, #13 (download)
“The Confessor” 1985, #8 (download)
“The Radio Song” 1987, #8 (download)
“In My Car” 1987, #14 (download)
Over the past year or so, my opinion on Joe Walsh has changed. The Eagles were always okay in my book but they were never a must listen for me. And Walsh’s solo stuff always seemed a little too basic and/or kind of silly at times. Maybe it’s simply the songs here are the best of his solo catalog or maybe I’ve changed but I’ve started to dig tunes like “Things” or “Rivers” and even the somewhat ridiculous lyrics of “Waffle Stomp.” Once I got to thinking that not everything has to be groundbreaking, Walsh’s songs kind of hit me differently. I still don’t know if I’d ever pull out say, ‘87s Got Any Gum? voluntarily but I’m closer to doing that than I ever was before.
The Waterboys
“Fisherman’s Blues” 1988, Modern Rock #3 (download)
“World Party” 1989, #48 (download)
A lot of people think the Waterboys’ 1988 album Fisherman’s Blues is their best recording but it also threw some people for a loop as it was their first album that really brought both traditional Scottish music and folk to the forefront of their recordings. Both of these tracks come from that album. Keyboardist Karl Wallinger co-wrote “World Party” before leaving the group in ’85 to form yep, World Party.
Roger Waters
“5:01 AM (The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking” 1987, #17 (download)
“Radio Waves” 1987, #12 (download)
“Sunset Strip” 1987, #15 (download)
Unlike Joe Walsh growing on me, I don’t think there’s a chance in hell that Roger Waters solo material will. Pink Floyd is hit or miss for me but none of Waters’ solo material in the decade is very good in my opinion. I’ve only gotten through 1984’s The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking once as I as was listening to my entire collection from start to finish and I have no desire to ever pick it up again.
“Radio Waves” and “Sunset Strip” come from Radio K.A.O.S. which is at least a better album than the previous one. For the type of music I like, the former isn’t a bad song at all. Actually neither is “Sunset Strip” – but it’s better within the context of the story told on the album rather than as a standalone.
Bob Welch
“It’s What Ya Don’t Say” 1982, #45 (download)
“It’s What Ya Don’t Say” was the only single off the 5th solo record from the former Fleetwood Mac guitarist.
Whitesnake
“Slow An’ Easy” 1984, #14 (download)
“Love Ain’t No Stranger” 1984, #33 (download)
“Judgment Day” 1989, #32 (download)
I will certainly admit that I liked both the earlier period of Whitesnake but also when they slicked up and went totally commercial. Looking back now, the “Here I Go Again” period really wasn’t that great but at the time you couldn’t have told me that.
“Slow An’ Easy” and “Love Ain’t No Stranger” both come from Slide It In which was an okay album but at least according to the band members at the time, the lineup just wasn’t right. And that led to Cozy Powell’s departure, Colin Hodgkinson being fired and Micky Moody and Mel Galley leaving the band.
The 1987 band from the self-titled record was completely different other than David Coverdale, with John Sykes on guitar, Neil Murray on bass and Aynsley Dunbar on drums. But they were all fired by Coverdale before the album was released and the tour for the album featured the superstar lineup of Vivian Campbell, Rudy Sarzo, Tommy Aldrige and Adrian Vandenberg.
Another case of “musical differences” led Campbell to leave the band after the tour and opened the door for Steve Vai to join for 1989’s Slip of the Tongue, which is probably the weakest album of the decade for the group.

Quick Hits
Best Song: The Waterboys, “World Party”
Worst Song: Rogers Waters, “The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking”
Appeared in the rock chart and Hot 100
John Waite (7): “Change” “Missing You” “Tears” “Restless Heart” “Every Step of the Way” “If Anybody Had A Heart” “These Times Are Hard For Lovers”
The Waitresses (1): “I Know What Boys Like”
Wall of Voodoo (1): “Mexican Radio”
Joe Walsh (2): “A Life of Illusion” “Space Age Whiz Kids”
Wang Chung (5): “Don’t Let Go” “Dance Hall Days” “To Live and Die L.A.” “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” “Praying To A New God”
Warrant (3): “Down Boys” “Heaven” “Big Talk”
Was (Not Was) (1): “Walk The Dinosaur”
Wax (1): “Right Between the Eyes”
White Lion (4): “Wait” “Tell Me” “When the Children Cry” “Little Fighter”
Whitesnake (5): “Still of the Night” “Here I Go Again” “Is This Love” “Give Me All Your Love” “Fool For Your Loving”